


Run Away

by Gigi_Bell



Series: ABO/Wolf [14]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alpha Byun Baekhyun, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Artificial Insemination, Baby Byul, Cute Park Chanyeol, Domestic, Family, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Omega Park Chanyeol, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:07:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28083666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gigi_Bell/pseuds/Gigi_Bell
Summary: “What is a city?”Baekhyun pursed his lips quickly and opted to reach over and turn the heater higher, “A city is here, all of these buildings and lights, I live in the city.”“Do I live in the city?”Baekhyun smiled and glanced at the omegas profile, “You live in the city starting today, sweetheart.”(Where Chanyeol was raised only to breed. Baekhyun teaches him, and his puppy, the world is much kinder than that.)
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol
Series: ABO/Wolf [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2055228
Comments: 20
Kudos: 209





	1. Safe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ibecomenervous](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ibecomenervous/gifts).



> This work is solely mine, I do not allow stories to be posted on any other site, and any translations that are done will be posted here on my own page, I don’t allow my works to be posted under any other accounts.

  
These weren’t half bad.

Well, there wasn’t much he could really compare it to anyway, but at least in these cages he got to see the outside, got fresh air and a pretty view - something that wasn’t a blank, white wall and concrete under his feet.

At least he got grass to lay on out here, even if he was slightly stained bloody in the corner, his brown fur matted together near his hind legs, but that hardly mattered to him.

What mattered to him was that he had a tiny puppy quietly suckling away under his hind leg, he had pushed himself against the metal back of the cage so the view from the front of the cage was obscured.

From this angle he could see around the facility building, around the side of the solid concrete building, no windows, nothing but artificial light and cages inside.

Chanyeol knew the entire layout by heart by now, as expected of his twenty years here, but he had never gotten to see the outside before.

Only once could he recall the huge things he heard the betas call _trees,_ and only once had he seen this so-called _forest_.

And, finally, he got to see them again. _Finally,_ he got to breathe air that wasn’t filtered so much it dried his throat out, and he got to feel what sunlight was on his soft brown fur. 

And he had this little guy to think for it, the little puppy hidden between his leg and his stomach. 

Well, at least for a little while he had a good time. He had gotten good meat, clean water, and even regular fur cleanings, but.. now was the hard part.

Any moment now he knew a beta would come strolling out of the double doors of the facility, a leash in hand and a blanket in the other. 

If it was an omega puppy, it could stay a while longer.

But if not… Chanyeol gulped whining in his throat and risking a peek at the tiny puppy, licking over the baby’s paw softly and pulling his tail over the hidden puppy for extra protection. 

He didn’t want to send the baby off on his own. Other puppies that had been sent to their buyers had been big, strong, but this one was… so _little,_ he was so small and it wasn’t fair to not give him any chances.

Chanyeol truly had no idea what happened to alphas, he had only smelled a few puppies from afar, and never seen anyone but betas come through the facility, pricing their worth, offerings for omegas to carry an alphas seed.

But he hadn’t ever _seen_ an alpha. He had heard whispers from the other omegas, tales about how they were supposedly huge beings, scary, and dangerous and that’s why they weren’t allowed to be together. 

That alphas were uncontrollable and could tell omegas what to do with only a single glimpse.

It was hard to tell if the stories were true or not, because the truth was _all_ of these omegas had been here just as long as he had - _forever._

None of them knew more than the next, but they could pretend, they could make up stories as the days rolled by; ones based on overhearing the beta workers talking, ones sometimes told to them by the workers if they were lucky and had one of the more decent betas for the day. 

It was rare, and it was few and far in between to get such a kind worker to clean them or take them out to stretch, but sometimes they did.

He missed the days when he could run around on two legs and got to sleep in a cot in the facility - but that was taken away once he matured.

 _“I won’t let him go.”_ Chanyeol proclaimed to his fellow omegas, and he knew they had all talked about this a million times before. He knew that the omegas made up so many stories of how they would leave, how they would make their way to their puppies; it was all unrealistic, but he was serious this time.

Because he had something to look forward to now, he would much rather take his puppy and run away forever if he needed to, than let them steal his puppy and give him off to some other pack.

No. It was _his_ puppy. He put in all the effort carrying it, he put in all the pain birthing the puppy not even an hour ago, all by himself against a very cold metal cage, panting and bleeding - but he did it _himself._

Nobody deserved to keep the puppy more than he did.

 _“What will you do, Chanyeol?”_ He heard Chunsoo ask, his closest cage neighbor who only recently birthed an omega - at least she would be able to keep the child until it was matured off of milk - Chanyeol didn’t know how long he’d get with his puppy.

He swallowed hard and his hips protested as he stood up, the puppy barely even made a grunt of discomfort at his milk being taken away, and the fact the puppy was so quiet only added to Chanyeol's worry of letting the puppy go. 

He was too weak, he wasn’t ready to come out, but he did, and Chanyeol needed to take care of him, he needed to take care of the puppy and knew they wouldn’t take a premature baby seriously.

Chanyeol's back legs shook as he stood up, and he heard a few of the omegas shouting worries and demands he lay back down into his head; it was very dangerous for him to be up so soon after childbirth, and even more dangerous for him to be attempting to press against the door of his cage. 

It was slightly rusty, probably because of the rain that came through every once in a while, he had heard stories of it - rain sounded like a very nice thing to see.

 _“Stop! You’ll get yourself killed!”_ Soomin cried across the walkway from him, and Chanyeol didn’t heed his warning at all.

He stepped back a few steps and was already panting in exhaustion as he took a huge leap towards the door of the cage, he whined out in pain as his shoulder collided with the metal, but he heard a straining noise from the metal and knew at least he had done _something_ right. 

_“Beta coming! Coming to check!”_

Chanyeol tried to stifle his panting, and must have looked ridiculous as he tossed himself over the puppy, placing himself over the bloodstained grass and attempting to cover all the proof of the puppy’s birth.

He felt the puppy cry slightly underneath him rather than hearing it, but it was just high pitched enough for him to look wide eyed, helpless at the omegas for help as the beta man walked over.

Chanyeol never thought he’d see the day a leash and blanket were brought out for his cage, but it looked that way. 

“Omega, has the time come?” The man asked, setting the blanket in front of his cage and kneeling down, “Is it today, omega?”

He shook his head adamantly, but knew he must have looked odd from his panting and the way he was shifting around in an attempt to not suffocate the puppy underneath him, but also attempting to shield him completely.

“No? I guess your due date is off about a week or so?”

Chanyeol nodded an agreement so fast he knew it was suspicious, but the beta just continued eyeing him.

Just then the baby started kicking out underneath him and he needed to move his position to shift and hope the puppy wouldn’t make a sound, but had no way of doing so.

Suddenly Chunsoo was whining out loud beside his cage, she was whining so loud it had Chanyeol looking at her confused, but the beta jumped up with the leash immediately, unlocking the cage quickly and leashing her to take her inside. 

There was no reason for it, Chunsoo even walked fine when she was led back towards the facility, the door sliding open with a loud clicking noise when the beta approached.

Chanyeol noticed then, that the blanket was kicked closer to his cage, the edge poking into the cage the tiniest bit and was jumping off his puppy quickly, licking an apologetic kiss into the puppy's stomach for scaring him.

He only had one chance now, probably less than five minutes before they scanned Chunsoo realized that she was fine, and her puppy was sleeping away in the corner of the cage, so there was no reason to worry over her or the child.

His snout pressed painfully into the metal as he grabbed the corner of the blanket, pulling it underneath the cage door and watching the cage door raise slightly higher.

It was unbalanced now, putting pressure on the hinges from the odd way the door was sitting higher than it should. 

Chanyeol took a deep breath and tried again, throwing himself into the door with all the speed he could gather in his small cage. 

It crackled louder this time, but otherwise still was standing, and he was growing paranoid and frustrated by it. 

_“Go, Chanyeol!”_

_“Go!”_

It was hard to focus with all the omegas hissing towards him to escape, but it also made him more determined.

He couldn’t get this far and give up so soon.

With a deep breath, he made a dash towards the door, and again, then three times.

Not only were his hips protesting his movement at this point, but his entire side was sore, and he was sure beneath his fur was a fine layer of scratches from ramming the metal.

But he heard one more round of encouragement and gave it his all, this was it.

And it worked.

Chanyeol tumbled out of the cage so hard he saw black stirring in his vision, but had to blink it off to laugh disbelievingly, his front paw felt sore and his fur was caught slightly in the broken hinge of the cage door, but even when he pulled his fur out removing his paw he didn’t feel anything other than a rush of adrenaline pumping.

_“Run! Run far away! Go!”_

_“Chanyeol run! Run, omega!”_

So he did. 

He hadn’t meant to grab the newborn so roughly, but he grabbed the puppy's scruff and didn’t think twice about booking it into the forest. 

The puppy was merely a newborn, and it was way too risky for him to be running away like this, way too confusing and scary, but there was no other choice.

Even if he was dragged back - at least he could have a nice story to tell the others, finally able to contribute a little bit of hope to brighten up the dull, artificial lights.

Chanyeol hadn’t even known forests were so… _bumpy,_ he was tripping over things he couldn’t even name, tripping over uneven dirt and the edge of trees, but he had to keep going, at least a few more miles.

At least until the puppy could rest comfortably.

At least until his legs gave out on him.

Chanyeol's legs went numb before he even thought about stopping.

***

Chanyeol hadn’t thought this through at all. He really had no idea of what to do, where to go.

He knew nothing, but this didn’t feel like a mistake.

At least he had a few good days of milk to feed to the puppy before he would stop producing, low on nutrients for himself, but, until then, he would keep hiding.

Luckily, he had dug himself a little cave under trees, the more precautions, the better.

He would surely be killed at this point, having gotten miles upon miles away, so far he couldn’t hear anything but birds chirping, and if he knew how he would take one down, but he hadn’t a clue.

It seemed ridiculous to be starving already, but he usually felt this way anyways, even with the two months of carrying the puppy he had always felt the need for more food; but now he felt empty. 

Maybe it was because the puppy was no longer inside of him anymore and his skin was already healing back against his thin stomach, or maybe he had just burned off more than he could account for in energy.

Chanyeol has never ran so much in his life, not even when they were allowed to take a walk in the facility, and it was fun, it was exhilarating. 

But it was exhausting. And now that he was laying down, licking his puppy clean of any dirt that could get in his tiny nose, he felt horrible.

He was bleeding somewhere, probably many places, but he could smell the iron and hoped it wasn’t too strong smelling.

The omegas hips were so painful it hurt to even shift and allow his puppy to knead his little paws near the area, he had to let the puppy feed closer to his front paws now.

He was missing a patch of fur on his front paw, and it stung when he tried to clean over it, the skin underneath was bright pink and irritated from him yanking out his fur into the cage.

Chanyeol really couldn't care too much about his injuries.

Tomorrow was a new day, and he knew it was going to be extremely hard to walk when he could barely feel his back legs, and his tail was even limp without the slightest of movement even if he willed it to, but he was going to keep going. 

Nobody had _ever_ made it out of the facility as far as he could remember, nobody had ever kept their puppy, and he was the first - it would be a shame to let that go to waste, a disappointment to all omegas if he was captured so soon.

He needed to get the puppy somewhere safe first, and then he honestly didn’t care if he was sent back, he didn’t care if he never saw the puppy again as long as he knew that he was being fed, and that he seemed calm wherever he was.

This puppy had changed everything for him. 

He remembered the older omegas telling them that they would eventually get used to the feeling, get used to carrying children, and giving birth alone.

That they would get _used_ to the sadness of seeing their puppy once, or for a short period of time, and then never again.

But as soon as Chanyeol saw his puppy he knew that wasn’t true at all, it couldn’t be - for him, at least.

Because the puppy couldn’t even see, couldn't even hear, and could barely even make a sound.

_So small. So precious. But so fragile._

It was unfair of him to bring a puppy into the world when it wasn’t brought to full term, and he had no idea why it had to be him of all omegas that _wanted_ to keep the puppy despite the baby obviously being a runt, something that sounded like a curse to Chanyeol's ears.

It was shameful for a mother to bring in a child so unprepared for life, but he didn’t feel like it was when he looked at the puppy.

Because the puppy seemed just the same as the others, but so cute, sniffing his nose out against 

Chanyeol's and squeaking noises the omega took as comforting, as the puppy recognizing him.

The alpha was adorable, barely even the size of Chanyeol's paw and he was on the smaller side of omegas.

_“I love you.”_

The puppy couldn’t hear him, even if they had a bond the puppy was too young to understand and process what was being sent to him. 

Chanyeol didn’t think he ever understood the word _love_ before, only having figured out the meaning while listening to betas throwing phrases back and forth, and the older omegas storytelling. 

But it felt right. It felt like it conveyed what he meant for it too, that he wanted to make sure the puppy was safe, that he wanted to keep him, that he wanted.. to be important to the puppy.

There was a word for what he wanted, but he was much too tired right now to even try to think about it and sort it out.

Instead, he nosed the puppy under his jaw, letting the puppy wiggle until comfortable under his neck before resting his head down over the top, being extra careful of the puppy's small head and putting too much weight on him. 

Chanyeol had never been taught things like this, the need to clean the puppy's face, the need to make sure he was warm, or to make sure he was drinking milk properly, nosing at the puppy's belly to feel how full he was. 

But something told him that he was doing it right, even if he had no idea at all. 

Instincts weren’t something he thought omegas really had, but maybe that was also a lie.

***

“You _asshole!”_

“You’re the one that wanted to come here!”

“I didn’t know it was mosquito city!”

Baekhyun snorted as he looked back and forth between his friends before brushing off his pants and standing up, “I’ll be back.” 

None of his friends listened, he only saw Minseok sent him a headnod across the bonfire the eldest was stoking.

Camping was _not_ Baekhyun’s forte.

Really, anything that had to do with being out of his house was not his favorite thing and it gave him all sort of anxiety.

That’s why he had a _house_ after all, it’s why he was a designer - so he rarely had to go outdoors.

Fuck, he hated the outdoors.

All of these _stupid_ bugs kept biting at him and sucking the fucking life out of him and he didn’t have cell reception, it was pissing him off so much.

The alpha sighed and dug his phone out to check if he had _any_ reception, of course he didn’t, but he felt more comfortable with the light on his phone on as he stepped towards the forest.

Baekhyun wondered if he could sneak away to smoke, but his friends knew he’d been _so_ good at quitting recently and they’d be disappointed if they caught him.

Once a day was _way_ better than multiple packs a day anyway.

Again, he sighed.

Nearing 28 and he was still doing the same shit he’d been doing since college - wallowing, sulking, complaining.

Baekhyun loved his friends, he did, but it was times like these when he was alone compared to the rest of them. 

They had mates, they worked normal hour jobs - meanwhile Baekhyun stayed home all day and went about odd hours sketching designs to send to his manager, the money was good, but the silence was unnerving.

And it’d been silent in his home _far_ too long.

Just as Baekhyun was fiddling with the box of cigarettes in his pocket and wandering along the edge of the clearing there was a _loud_ crashing noise.

So loud he heard his friends stop what they were doing.

“What was _that!”_ Jongdae called to him.

Baekhyun shrugged because he had zero idea, eyes wide and mouth parted in shock as he turned his phone light towards the noise.

Twigs began to crackle more, and Baekhyun wasn’t ever the alpha to back down when afraid, even if it had gotten his ass kicked in the past.

Instead, he walked right toward it, stepping foot into the pitch black forest. 

_“Hello?”_

“Baekhyun you fucking idiot!” He heard Junmyeon screech.

The alpha merely rolled his eyes and carefully walked a bit further, “Hello? Anyone out here?” 

Baekhyun licked his lips and was just debating on turning to go back when there was a soft whine to his right, he furrowed his brows and pushed his overgrown hair off his forehead, “Hello?”

He shined his flashlight back and forth and saw the entrance of a small dugout in the dirt, tilting his head as he caught the end of a dirty foot sticking out.

“Do you need help? Are you okay?” He asked carefully, stepping over sticks and cringing each time the noise was incredibly loud. 

_“H-Help?”_

Baekhyun suddenly felt his own pulse pick up, a surge in adrenaline for no apparent reason, he even found his feet picking up and walking faster, “I can help you.” 

_“Yes… h-help..”_

The alpha held his breath before climbing to his knees and looking into the hole, shining his light inside.

What he found made his breath catch, and _not_ in a good way. 

His first thought was something smells _really good,_ the instinctual part of him getting the best of him, but the human part of him mumbled an _oh god…_ at the condition of the omega.

He could only assume the crashing noise to be the omega shifting in such a small area, because he didn’t really fit, his shoulders were too broad, his legs were pulled to his chest in a way that looked painful, and the dirt of the dug out cave was falling all over him. 

_“Help?”_ He murmured, arms folded around something and Baekhyun swallowed at the wave of iron that floated from him.

“Help? Yes, yeah - I can help you.” Baekhyun propped his phone light up and began to remove his jacket, 

“What’s your name? How long have you been here?” 

Instead of answering, Baekhyun watched the omegas eyes go wide and saw the slight twitch of his nose before he leaned closer, “Take.”

“Huh?”

Baekhyun laid the jacket on the ground towards the nude omega and was _just_ about to say, “Yes, take it,” but the omega was leaning over and placing a small, sleeping puppy on top of it. 

_“Take.”_

Baekhyun had _two_ reactions. 

The first being his eyes closing in ecstasy because the puppy smelled like this other wolf and there were a _million_ of different things he wanted to say then, to snatch the omega and tell him who he was - that he was glad to finally have smelled his scent.

But, the second reaction was much more fitting. 

“Oh my _god.”_ He hissed, grabbing the puppy and wrapping the baby up into his shirt, “Oh god, oh god - we need to get him warm.”

The baby was _freezing._ Baekhyun could only be relieved when the puppy made a soft whine when he rubbed him with his shirt. 

_“I did bad.”_

Baekhyun's head snapped up and he shook his head instantly, frantically rubbing the baby with his top in hopes the friction would help a little. He had no idea what this omega had been up to, but he didn’t _need_ to know when just _looking_ at him he could see how tormented he was - skinny, bloody, terrified.

Baekhyun didn’t care if this _hadn’t_ been his mate, he’d have said the same exact thing. 

“No. You must have done _so good,”_ He said firmly, “So, _so_ good. Now let’s get you cleaned up, okay? Come on out, sweetheart.” 

Baekhyun removed his phone before the omega could knock it over, bringing the baby up into his chest with a soft shushing noise as the puppy began to start crying - presumably for his dad to feed him.

It was difficult to not scan the omega for injuries right away, but Baekhyun couldn’t both deal with his internal screaming that he’d found his mate _and_ the worry about what the hell was going on.

_And why he had a puppy already._

“What’s your name?” He asked softly, turning to look at the omega and falling a bit short at how _big_ of an omega he had.

_How gorgeous._

The omega had wide, expressive eyes, and the coat that was oversized on Baekhyun fell just over his hips and the omega shivered and eyed his puppy instead of the alpha, “Chanyeol.” 

“Chanyeol.” Baekhyun whispered, smiling in a way he hoped was reassuring, “We’re going to have to walk by some people, okay? But don't _worry,_ I’m going to take you home and get you both warmed up.” 

Chanyeol didn't respond, but the idea of that must have appealed to him because his eyes pleaded with Baekhyun to make good on his promise.

***

Chanyeol had stared outside of the car window the entire drive home, eyes shutting for moments as he accidentally fell asleep before he’d pop them back open with a whine and squeeze his baby to his chest.

Baekhyun was concerned over his interest in the streetlights and cars, Chanyeol had to be instructed exactly what to do and it helped that Baekhyun’s friends could be _annoying -_ but they weren’t _stupid -_ and helped get him situated.

They cared, and as soon as Baekhyun stepped foot out of the forest with the omega they had _all_ looked _so_ concerned. 

“Have you never been to the city?” 

“What is a city?” 

Baekhyun pursed his lips quickly and opted to reach over and turn the heater higher, “A city is here, all these buildings and lights, I live in the city.” 

“Do I live in the city?” 

Baekhyun smiled and glanced at the omegas profile, “You live in the city starting today, sweetheart.” 

Chanyeol made a confused noise, but the way he scrunched his nose was so endearing.

“Does the city smell a lot?” 

“There _are_ a lot of smells,” Baekhyun said softly, tapping his thumb on the steering wheel, “But don’t you worry, I’ll be with you all the time, and if you get overwhelmed you can just smell me.” 

“You smell _weird.”_

The alpha snickered and his eyes widened a bit with amusement, “Wow, you sure know how to compliment a guy.” 

Chanyeol blushed and tucked into the seat more, moving one hand from his lap to fiddle with his empty chip wrappers on the center console. It made Baekhyun frown, but he’d get him fed soon enough. “I have never smelled something like you.” 

Baekhyun couldn't help but to puff his chest out with pride, laughing because his mate was just _adorable,_ reaching over to dig for the garage opener remote as he pulled up. “Thank you, Chanyeol.” 

Again, the omega made a confused noise like he wasn’t sure what Baekhyun was talking about and Baekhyun smiled.

He quickly went about pulling into the garage and heard the omega gasp a shocked sound as the garage door began to shut behind the car.

Baekhyun laughed softly and got out to go around and help the omega, having to reach over and undo his seatbelt and sparing a pet to the puppy before stepping back and grabbing Chanyeol’s forearm in case the omega lost balance.

He really was thin, Baekhyun was incredibly worried.

“Okay, let’s get you in and into a shower, don’t you worry that pretty head, sweetheart.” 

Chanyeol looked at him with bashful eyes, holding the wrapped up puppy out for the alpha.

Baekhyun thought it was really cute how he just kept shoving the baby at him and laughed, accepting and locking the door, “Okay, follow me, I’ll give you a tour later, but for now-“

“Baekhyun?”

“Yeah?” 

“What is a _shower?_ Is that like a bath? _”_

The alpha blanched and licked his lips before turning around with a gentle smile, “Don’t worry, I’ll turn it on for you and _everything,_ Chanyeol. Just sit down for a minute and I’ll collect some things for you.” 

Baekhyun was gone for merely a few minutes having laid the puppy into his bed and gathered some clothes and a towel for the omega.

But when he got back Chanyeol was passed out face first into the cushion of the chair, legs pulled together under the coat and it _had_ to be uncomfortable for his long legs.

Baekhyun smiled fondly and gathered a couple of blankets to throw on top of him, shaking his head with a small laugh and petting over his cheek, “You can just shower in the morning, baby.”

***

“And we have to scrub these little ears! Huh! Scrub scrub scrub! That’s _right!_ A clean baby is a happy baby!” 

Baekhyun could feel the round eyes staring into his spine and half smirked and half smiled, but he was too busy to turn around.

“Huh, sweet pea? Are you alphas little puppy?”

The puppy was too small to do much but yawn and whine a bit, it was so adorable Baekhyun’s heart swelled up as he laughed and scratched his little head.

He was so little he fit perfectly in a bowl inside the sink like his own little tub, but he was so malnourished that Baekhyun had stayed up _all_ night ordering baby foods and such for overnight shipment. 

“You’re just _too little.”_ Baekhyun murmured, yet still cooing at the puppy as he plucked him out of his makeshift tub to set onto the towels on the counter. 

“I’m sorry.” 

Baekhyun’s face dropped and he quickly went to dry the puppy off, “No- no, Chanyeol. This is _not_ your fault, he’s going to be _fine.”_

He heard a soft sniffle and instantly just grabbed the puppy in his towel to turn towards the living room.

It was completely unfair how beautiful Chanyeol looked just _sitting_ there. 

Luckily Baekhyun was a fan of oversized things so he found hoodies to fit the omega, but Chanyeol looked too good to be real with his damp hair curling around his ears and his face flushed from his warm shower.

Baekhyun had to go in to turn it both on and off for him, but that was okay - he’d seen the omega naked already when he’d found him.

Chanyeol had nearly slept the entire day away so far though, so they hadn’t spoken much.

“Baby,” Baekhyun sighed and walked over with the puppy whining for attention in his arm, “Your puppy is going to be _fine,_ you did such a good job _.”_

Chanyeol frowned like he didn’t believe that and put his arms out for the baby.

Baekhyun disliked the look of disbelief on his face and gave the omega his puppy to take a seat a half cushion away and pet the side of Chanyeol’s face, “I don’t know what happened, sweetheart, but I _do_ know that it looks like you love your baby so much, and he’s going to be just _fine._ I can even take him to the doctors if you’d-“

_“No doctor.”_

The alpha swallowed and was taken back by Chanyeol's scared eyes and the way he yanked the baby far away from Baekhyun.

Baekhyun couldn't help to feel… offended.

This wasn’t his puppy and he didn’t have the _right_ to feel that way, yet he _did._

“I…” 

“It’s okay,” Baekhyun said weakly, slowly reaching over to squeeze Chanyeol’s knee, “That's your business, Chanyeol.” 

“No, I-I want you to.. know..” The omega trailed off a bit and Baekhyun couldn't help but to coo at him a bit, 

“The… the last I saw a doctor I was.. put to sleep… and woke up and they said the _insemination_ was successful… I didn’t… Baekhyun, I didn’t _know.”_

What was there to be said?

Chanyeol burst into tears and all Baekhyun could do was stare at him, look at him and how pretty he looked, even _sobbing_ with his nose all runny and cheek scratched up, he was beautiful.

And here Baekhyun was with an _ugly_ scowl, nails digging into his pants and twisting his head the other way to stare at the window so he wouldn’t scare Chanyeol _more._

Really, what the _hell_ were they doing to omegas in the woods?

“Where were you from before this?” Baekhyun gritted out, sounding like his teeth grinded together.

There was a whimper and as an alpha he _had_ to give in and look - Chanyeol deserved more than to ignore his pain - they were _mates_ and no matter how protective Baekhyun felt Chanyeol had to feel a million times more afraid. 

“Oh, sunshine,” Baekhyun sighed and shifted to sit on his knees on the couch in order to hug all of Chanyeol’s head to his chest. “Sh, I know, baby. Just breathe.” 

His omega was so large it was difficult for Baekhyun to hold him, but he was always up for a challenge and would never, _ever_ complain about having a beautiful mate even if things were slightly unconventional.

Baekhyun had been told all his life he was a _small_ alpha anyway, so he was used to a bit of unconventionality.

“I… I don’t _know -_ I just know the w-woods! I only know the woods!” 

“Sh, sh, sweetheart,” Baekhyun brushed his hair behind his ear and saw the puppy in his lap wiggle a bit, likely confused as to what was going on, feeling the vibrations of Chanyeol’s crying.

God, Baekhyun needed to check and see how long they had before the puppy’s ears and eyes opened, because they certainly couldn’t let the baby think he was named _puppy._

“I know what we are going to do, we’re going to tell the police that there’s a place in the woods-“

_“No!”_

Baekhyun startled and grasped Chanyeol's curls tighter when the omega turned his body to latch onto his shirt - he knew Chanyeol was conscious of the baby on his lap, but he still shushed the omega with a soft, _“the puppy, hey, let’s calm down for the puppy.”_

“Precious,” Baekhyun added softly, pressing his nose down onto Chanyeol's head. He smelled like tree sap, yet now that he’d showered it was so strong and sweet. 

It made his body feel warm.

“Let’s sleep and we can talk tomorrow, baby. Okay?”

***

They didn’t talk tomorrow, only because Chanyeol had _slept._

Baekhyun had never seen anyone sleep this long really, it was three days later and _still_ the omega was like a zombie - Baekhyun didn’t know _where_ the hell Chanyeol came from, all he knew was that it must have been _horrible._

_“And they said they’d like a map, if he can remember, and if he circles it then they’ll send out some scouts to look -“_

Baekhyun was convincing himself that this _wasn’t_ his fault.

He hadn’t ratted on Chanyeol - his _friends_ had.

He understood their concern, Baekhyun walked out for a few minutes and came back with a bloodied omega and a baby, it was _scary._

But he couldn’t help but to be annoyed that they had gone and filed a report without his permission, it was bad enough having officers show up yesterday and Baekhyun had to make excuses not to let them wake up his mate.

But the matter of a fact was _that was his fucking mate,_ and after a rather hiss filled growl of that, Baekhyun got the officers out of his home quickly. 

The only reason Baekhyun _wasn’t_ cursing at his friends right now, was because they had picked up a bunch of stuff he’d ordered online for the baby that couldn’t be shipped.

“I’ll ask him,” Baekhyun sighed, cutting open the crib pieces, “What the fuck did the police say anyway? A _breeding center? In the woods? What the actual fuck?_ Don’t get me wrong, I am extremely happy to have Chanyeol here, but… I mean-“

_“They said they’ve gotten reports the past thirty years of… well, some breeding programs, but when they check them out there’s a bunch of denial. I think they suspect that some of the police have been accepting bribes… I mean, if you can afford to pay for an omega to be… basically… you know, bred, then you sure as hell can pay off the authorities when they come after you.”_

Baekhyun heard the discomfort in Junmyeon's voice - of course it made him uncomfortable, it made _anyone_ uncomfortable - but his mate was an _officer,_ so the idea that an officer would rather accept money than deal with the crime was… unnerving. Yifan would _never._

“Call it for what it is.” Baekhyun scoffed as he yanked out the baggie of screws and looked at instructions, “It was _torture._ Chanyeol said they put him to sleep, he woke up and was _pregnant._ I don’t give a fuck if it was artificial insemination - he didn’t want to have a child, and they forced it on him. And to make it worse… they planned to take the puppy away from him? _Fuck no, fuck no,_ over my dead fucking body- i know we say we’re past primal instincts but anyone who thinks they’re just going to come take Chanyeol’s _baby_ from us is going to die like this is the 1800’s and we’re hunting in the fucking woods.”

 _“Baek,”_ Junmyeon laughed quietly, _“Alphas can’t shift, you know this.”_

“I’ll claw then,” Baekhyun said decidedly, laughing under his breath at his own ridiculousness, but he wasn’t lying.

Baekhyun may be _small_ but he was an alpha - and no matter what he was going to be instinctual like one for his family.

_“Speaking of shifting… has he, you know, healed up? I’ve heard that when omegas shift to give birth they are supposed to be like that for weeks… and, it’s only been a while, Chanyeol shouldn’t have shifted back yet, he’s not ready to be walking around and such.”_

There was a beeping noise from the kitchen and Baekhyun quickly jumped up with the phone to his ear, “That’s probably why he’s sleeping so much,” He frowned and turned the timer off on the oven and the stovetop off.

“Poor baby, he’s been out like a light the past few days. I checked him earlier and he just kind of blinked at me and then fell asleep looking at me. It was so stinkin _cute.”_

Junmyeon began to crack up on the other end and Baekhyun laughed with a soft blush crawling up his neck, he knew it must be weird for his friends - Baekhyun was always the one that disliked soft talk and actively gagged when the others bragged about their mates, but this was _Chanyeol_ and he may not know much about him, but Baekhyun could brag for _days_ even if it was just about the cute way his sweatpants stopped above his ankles because of his long legs.

“Oh-“ Baekhyun backtracked on his way back into the living room, stepping back and meeting eyes with two half opened little blue ones peering through soft netting. “I gotta go,” He laughed and dropped his phone onto the chair.

 _“Sweet pea,”_ He giggled and reached into the baby pen to pet soft fur. “My sweet boy, good _morning,_ pumpkin! Did you have a good nap?” 

He scooped the puppy up and felt overwhelmingly proud of the puppy shakingly raising his head to look at him through his newly opened eyes, well, partially open.

Enough for the puppy to see, and as soon as Baekhyun brought him to his face the puppy squeaked an excited sound and flopped a paw onto his nose. 

“I _know!_ I love you too, puppy dog! Daddy needs to choose a name for you quickly! Super quick! Before Baekhyunnie names you!” 

His ears were still shut so it wasn’t like he had a clue what Baekhyun was cooing, but the puppy started up with a series of fast kicks and it made Baekhyun laugh and kiss his face.

“Let’s eat dinner, huh, sugar? My puppy needs _lots and lots and lots_ of milk!” Baekhyun cooed.

The puppy’s tiny nails sort of hurt digging into his neck because they were like little needles, but Baekhyun gladly dealt with it and plopped the puppy into the neck of his top, holding his bottom up through the shirt.

Little brown fur popped out with a squeal before dipping into the top and sniffing Baekhyun’s chest and then popping his pretty blue eyes back out with his tail moving a mile a minute.

Baekhyun was so _proud._ “Is this so fun?” He laughed and kissed the baby’s ear, “Let’s make daddy a plate and then you can have milk, my little star.” 

He hummed because the puppy likes to feel the vibrations - and because he liked to feel the baby press soft fur into his chest to rub against him - making his way to grab a bowl from the cabinet.

It was harder than one would think to pour seaweed soup into a bowl with a puppy licking at his skin for attention.

But then again who would _ever_ complain about such a thing - certainly not Baekhyun.

Plus after a minute of not receiving extra kisses because Baekhyun was busy, the puppy just huffed and pressed his little muzzle into Baekhyun’s jaw.

“Grumpy.” Baekhyun laughed and squeezed his belly through the shirt earning a confused cry from the puppy and a kicking leg, before he was starting down the hall with both hands full.

Chanyeol's door was still partially cracked from the omega rushing out earlier to check the baby.

“Baby?” Baekhyun crooned quietly, turning on the omegas bedroom light. Ideally, Chanyeol would sleep with him, but given the omegas sleepiness, he sort of just slept wherever he ended up.

Maybe when he wasn’t so tired Baekhyun would see if he’d prefer to sleep with him, he wanted to turn this guest room into the puppy’s room rather than _Chanyeol_ and the puppy’s room. 

“Sleepy head,” The alpha laughed and gently laid the puppy down beside Chanyeol’s head, the spoon inside the bowl clanking as Baekhyun took a seat and leaned over to pet the omegas cheek. “Have something to eat, sweetheart.” 

Chanyeol whined when he woke up and it was so endearing Baekhyun laughed and placed the bowl down onto the bed to use both hands and pet his face, “The puppy says _good evening daddy!”_

As if reiterating that, the puppy licked at Chanyeol's forehead, tossing a little paw into his hair and kneading at it.

“Mhm,” Chanyeol grumbled and muzzled into Baekhyun’s palm with a warm huff, _“Tired.”_

With a click of his tongue, Baekhyun frowned and used fingertips to gently push Chanyeol’s hair back, “Baby, if you keep sleeping this much I may have to call someone to check up on you, beautiful.” 

He knew how much Chanyeol disliked the idea - it was only obvious that he did given… circumstances.

So Baekhyun was only slightly disappointed when the omega pulled back and fixed him with a tired look as he grabbed the puppy to tug on top of his chest with a huff.

“Are you going to eat?” Baekhyun mumbled, “I told the puppy once _daddy_ eats then I will feed him.” 

“I can feed him.” 

_“I_ will feed him and _you_ get some sleep, lazy bones,” The alpha ordered lightly, pinching Chanyeol's side gently and scooping a spoon of soup, “Now open up, gorgeous.” 

Chanyeol blushed brightly, but Baekhyun found it overwhelmingly adorable how he glared at him for being told what to do. 

The thought that they were already fighting like an old married couple only made the alpha laugh to himself as he fed the omega a few more bites.

The puppy on Chanyeol’s chest made vibrating barks for the omegas attention and if Baekhyun found the puppy adorable just _alone_ then he had no idea how to explain how cute the little puppy was flopped on his belly at Chanyeol's chest and delivering a bunch of soft smacks of anger.

“He’s mad,” Chanyeol giggled, bottom lip shining with broth.

Baekhyun _swore_ it wasn’t his fault that his instant thought was to kiss it off, wondering if Chanyeol’s lips would taste just as sweet as they looked….

“Of course he’s upset, daddy has been sleeping _all_ day, and alpha is _not_ much fun according to the baby.” 

“Alphas smell weird _that's_ why.” 

Baekhyun’s lip quirked up as he laughed, moving the soup onto the side table and shifting more into the bed, “You're _still_ on that, huh? Am I _stinky,_ mister sensitive nose?” 

Chanyeol laughed and Baekhyun’s shoulders unintentionally rose at the noise, grin spreading wider as he reached over to scratch the hand sized puppy’s back so he’d calm a bit. 

Instantly the pup turned to start suckling at his hand and Baekhyun laughed fondly as he used his thumb to pet over blue eyes. 

“Not…. _Bad smelling…”_

His eyes flickered back to Chanyeol and Baekhyun felt like exploding with cooes at the omegas bashful look, his chin in his top and lip between his teeth. “Just…. _Different.”_

“Different how?” 

_“... safe…”_

And _there_ went all of Baekhyun’s resolve, he knelt over his lap with a bright smile to nuzzle Chanyeol's hair, arm protectively sprawled carefully over the puppy’s spine and the omegas chest. “I’m _so glad_ you think so, Chanyeol. Truly, very, very glad.” 

Chanyeol puffed a warm breath against his chin and made a surprised and flustered sound, but didn’t move, he only licked his lips nervously and eyed the side of Baekhyun’s face.

As if recognizing that there was _much_ going on and he wasn’t getting attention, the baby’s squirming picked up along with a rather irritated squeal. 

Both of the adults laughed although Baekhyun’s was more comfortable when being so close to Chanyeol, whilst the omega looked somewhat unsure of what to do.

Baekhyun cleared his throat and removed himself from utop of Chanyeol’s pillows, “I uh….” _Should he explain himself?_ “... was thinking you should name him, you know, before his ears open…” _Well, looked like he wouldn’t then._

“Oh…” Chanyeol shuffled uncomfortably with a slight grimace when he went to roll on his side, it made the alpha beside him grimace too and reach over to fix his pillows as if it helped his pain at _all._

Baekhyun felt like he was doing the bare minimum for Chanyeol and that didn’t sit well with himself.

“... I don’t know many names, we… were all named the same…” 

“Well that’s okay, sweetheart, if you’d like we can look online… find some books, watch some s-“

_“You can choose.”_

Baekhyun startled and swallowed as he watched Chanyeol yawn and groggily pet the puppy, “Baby…. I don’t think that’s fair, I think-“

“You _saved_ us, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol gave a small shake of his head with eyes half shut, “He’d be _dead_ without you, and… and now you gave us so many things… like, like this bed and… food and… the moving thing in the living room…” He trailed off with a tired noise.

Baekhyun smiled slightly at his cute words, wanting to tease about the _television_ that Chanyeol was referring to, but the omega was just _exhausted._

 _“_ I’ll choose and tell you in the morning, precious.” He whispered, tugging the blanket over Chanyeol's shoulder.

The omega was trying to stay up, it was obvious in his soft sniff and tired, slow blinking.

“And if you put a pillow between your legs it might help,” Baekhyun suggested, laying a hand over Chanyeol's hip and massaging a bit over the blanket. “I’m going to order you a hot pack too, get some sleep, sunshine.” 

Chanyeol passed out just like that, with Baekhyun rubbing his hip and broth on his mouth, a puppy whining, patting the bedding and trying to swat at his nose to play.

Baekhyun snickered and scooped up the baby before he could wake him up, “Come on, Byullie, daddy wants to sleep now! Alpha isn’t _that_ boring, right?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I’ll have part two up soon!


	2. Impatient

“Byul! No! Bad! Naughty!” 

Baekhyun laughed under his breath as he leaned against the doorway of the guest room, “You having some trouble?” 

Chanyeol jumped back like he’d just gotten caught doing something _horrible,_ but all he was doing was fighting one of Baekhyun’s shirts from the puppy, “I-I… He took it.. and now it’s all wet with spit!” 

The alpha just hummed and crossed his arms with a small grin - Chanyeol couldn't really expect him to be _mad_ now could he? The puppy liked his scent, it wasn’t a bad thing. 

“That’s nice, baby. Now lunch is ready.” 

Chanyeol blushed and stood up straight to tug his shirt over his hips nervously, fiddling in place, “I.. I wanted to help today.” 

“I _know,”_ Baekhyun cooed, grinning as he leaned off the wall to approach the omega, standing on his toes to cup Chanyeol's pink face, “That’s why I pulled out some chicken we can make _together_ for dinner. I just threw some sandwiches together for lunch, no big deal.” 

The omega brightened, Baekhyun could see it in his eyes even if Chanyeol didn’t verbally say it.

Baekhyun laughed and let go of his face to instead hug him, chin pressing into Chanyeol’s sternum and eyeing the underside of his jaw.

How was _everything_ about Chanyeol so pretty? 

Baekhyun knew he was stressed out lately because he’d _finally_ gotten Chanyeol to look at a map.

The omega didn’t write, he couldn’t read, in fact very much of what Chanyeol knew was so _basic._ As if he was never supposed to be much more than breeding after all.

It… pained Baekhyun, and he knew the more Chanyeol was learning the more it scared him to learn. 

He was older, he wasn’t Byul who would learn things as he grew - Chanyeol was way past the point of absorbing information like that.

The flashing lights of police cars scared him, when sirens went past the house Chanyeol jumped like a gun was fired, he couldn’t watch television past volume ten and he shook stepping out of the house.

So Baekhyun was _adapting_ for him.

He stopped his smoking cold turkey to take care of the two, he limited the time he spent getting groceries ever since Chanyeol admitted he disliked being home alone, he made sure not to set alarms too loud.

The hardest part was most definitely _teaching._

Baekhyun was no teacher. He purposely chose a profession where he didn’t have to speak to others, because he sucked at explaining.

So it was difficult because he accidentally assumed so much of Chanyeol all the _time._ He assumed the omega knew how to use the microwave, how to call him, how to unlock the front door.

It was _hard_ because these seemed like such simple things to Baekhyun, but anything outside of a bedroom or a bathroom was all up in the air for Chanyeol, and the omega was trying _so hard_ to learn.

Baekhyun needed to make sure he put in as much effort as he possibly could because it would _never_ amount to how much Chanyeol was using. 

“Baekhyun?” 

The alpha hummed into his collarbone, wrapping his arms around Chanyeol's narrow waist. “Yes, baby.” 

“Why are you so _pretty?”_

Baekhyun actually burst into laughter, not because of the question - although it was adorable - but because of how _confused_ Chanyeol actually sounded. 

He grinned and pulled back to press a kiss to Chanyeol’s flaming cheek, dragging a hand down to the omegas palm to tug his hand gently, “Aren’t you a sweetheart, very cute, sunshine.” 

Chanyeol pouted and ducked his head, “I… I was being serious…” 

The alpha just beamed.

***

Baekhyun _felt_ an itch to check on Chanyeol. 

It was normal that he worried - truthfully he got up a million times at night to check on the omega, but normally Chanyeol was out like a light and sprawled around everywhere reminding Baekhyun how _big_ his mate was.

Something about their size difference made a nice burn crawl up his spine, Baekhyun couldn't afford to get horny over his mate right now but _fuck_ was it getting hard to not when Chanyeol was right _there_ looking gorgeous all the time.

His round, expressive eyes just begged Baekhyun to kiss the breath out of him.

Wow, he never realized how _difficult_ it was becoming not to jump his omega, but given everything Chanyeol had been through Baekhyun was _well_ aware he shouldn’t even do more than give him smiles.

“Why are you up so late?” Baekhyun mumbled as he approached the living room, a computer light on by the dining table and reflecting on Chanyeol’s face.

Baekhyun made sure to bookmark tabs and had explained what was what to Chanyeol - the omega was growing more familiar with the little Amazon logo and how to click through order confirmation pages, but it still _hurt_ that Baekhyun knew he couldn’t read them.

He mostly just liked to look at things and that hurt Baekhyun even more when he caught the omega watching news stations with confused looks.

“Sweetheart?” He prompted quietly, flicking on the kitchen light and crossing his arms around his robe.

“What does… this mean?” 

Baekhyun came over quickly, chewing his lip as he draped himself over the back of the dining chair and pressed his cheek into Chanyeol’s hair.

The omega had a crib pulled up, probably suggested from when Baekhyun bought Byul’s a month ago. 

“What, baby? Which part?” He whispered, curling an arm around the front of Chanyeol’s chest and petting his collarbone, “It’s some baby things, were you looking for something? See anything you want, baby?” 

Chanyeol huffed and Baekhyun had never heard him sound so mad as he pointed at a picture in the corner of the screen, _“That! What’s that!”_

Baekhyun was taken back, but he played it off with a soft noise and combed Chanyeol's hair back from his eyes tenderly before reaching over to click on the photo. 

It was a set of baby blankets, they were cute and had little elephants on them.

“Oh, it’s just some bedding. Do you think Byul would like the elephants?”

_“Elephants?”_

Baekhyun cringed at the near tearful tone, releasing Chanyeol, “Baby, it’s okay. Sh, we can learn some more-“

 _“I’m so stupid!”_ Chanyeol burst like a waterfall, slamming a hand close to the computer before he was standing up and sobbing.

It was hard for Baekhyun to see Chanyeol cry, to have to look at him and keep his hands to himself - it _hurt._

This was his mate and who was he if not able to care for his mate? 

It felt like he wasn’t doing a good job at it when Chanyeol cried, like he hadn’t protected him enough regardless that he’d only had a month with him and Byul. 

It was still _early,_ and yet it still felt like Baekhyun could have done so much more to protect them.

“I can’t _read! I can’t feed Byul right!_ I can barely turn on the shower, I didn’t know what a stove was until I came here - Baekhyun! I’m an _idiot!_ I’m stupid and I-I hate it! I hate when- when the officers came and… and they looked at me like _that,_ like I was _stupid!_ And I hate when… when everyone is being so nice but they look at me so… _sad,_ I just want to take care of Byul and that’s _it!_ And.. I can’t even do that - you do that - I’m the _worst!_ I’m stupid, ugly-“

 _“Chanyeol!”_ Baekhyun yelled, rushing over to grab his hands that were covering his face, he’d rubbed his eyes all red like he wanted the tears to stop. “Stop, stop. Who told you you were ugly or stupid? _Nobody._ So I don’t ever want to hear you say either of those things-“

Chanyeol pushed him back with a sob but the alpha didn’t give up so easily, rushing back to wrap around him in a hug and shush him.

The omega sobbed and yanked at him like he wanted him to get off, but never quite demanded it.

“I just want to go back!” Chanyeol screamed with tears on his face, “It’s too hard! It’s hard here!” 

“But it’s _safe_ here!” Baekhyun cried right back, releasing a hiss when the omega nearly fell over from his knees being weak.

Instead, Chanyeol dropped to his knees to cry into his lap and Baekhyun sprawled over his spine like that was _any_ help at all. 

He didn’t care if it wasn’t helpful, he just had the overwhelming need to make sure Chanyeol was okay, and if that meant being a blanket and hugging his spine then that was perfectly fine.

“Sh, you're fine, baby. Don't say that - it’s _dangerous_ for you and Byul in the woods, okay? It’s _scary_ and dangerous and I’m _not_ ever going to let you two go back there - no way. In no world. You’re stuck with me and that’s that.” 

_“Why!”_

Baekhyun sniffed and sat back just to wipe his eyes before shuffling to sit in front of Chanyeol, both hands going into the omegas hair to pet comfortingly at his scalp. “Because I have to take care of you and I _want_ to take care of you, and I want Byul to be with you _and me,_ forever. I don’t want you to feel like this Chanyeol, and I don’t want you to feel like you need to go back - this is where you belong, and it’s where I want you to be and I… I wished you would _want_ to be here too.” 

He couldn’t lie and say he wasn’t hurt.

Baekhyun was _very_ hurt. Chanyeol had never said something like this before and he knew that to a degree it was just the omega being overwhelmed with everything.

But there was still the inkling in the back of his mind that said Chanyeol _disliked_ to be here.

He couldn’t see it - he couldn’t understand it. All Chanyeol did when they saw each other was smile and blush and look so _cute_ all of the time.

Baekhyun didn’t know if Chanyeol was just screaming because he was afraid and frustrated or if he _genuinely_ would rather go be a _breeder_ than live with him.

“W-Why..” Chanyeol sniffed and made a whimpering noise in his lap, “Why are you so nice to me? I’m _stupid_ and wea-“

“Sunshine,” Baekhyun laughed tearfully, running his fingers over the nape of his neck and shaking his head, “I’m _always_ going to be nice to you. I’m always going to take care of you - I’m _always always_ going to make sure you’re okay, what kind of mate would I be if I didn’t? A rather horrible one I’d say.” 

Chanyeol whimpered into his knees, sniffling and crying as he peeked up to look at him with bloodshot, wet eyes, “What is a _mate?”_

This wasn’t the first time Baekhyun would make himself look stupid, and it certainly wasn’t the last time he would over assume - but he had been _so_ certain Chanyeol knew.

All the comments about his scent, all of the blushing and cute flustering.

“I-“ Baekhyun was tongue tied, sitting back and crossing his legs, “Chanyeol… I- you…” He licked his lips and they tasted slightly salty from tears rolling over them. 

The omega whimpered then, almost like he could tell Baekhyun was distressed too and that worried him. 

Chanyeol came shuffling over to place himself in Baekhyun’s lap and even though he was so much taller than the alpha, it somehow worked when he ducked into a ball and situated himself under Baekhyun’s chin. 

It shouldn’t work, Baekhyun was smaller, he had a smaller frame, yet Chanyeol was light even if he was so broad, he didn’t feel like much more than warmth in laying on Baekhyun’s chest. 

Baekhyun breathed in his scent for a moment to think about how to approach this, squeezing the omega tight and petting over his ear. “A mate, it’s a _partner,”_ He mumbled, “And they love each other and take care of each other, they smell very _different_ to each other and are always going to want to be close.” 

“Do… you want to be close to me?” 

The alpha smiled gently and tilted his head to press his forehead into Chanyeol’s temple, releasing a light laugh at the omega picking at Byul’s puppy furs on his shirt. “I’m close to you right now, I think that’s answer enough, baby, I like to be close with you, hold you, and see you.” 

He saw Chanyeol pout with his face slightly red, from crying and perhaps being flustered. “I… I can’t see you well right now.” 

“Do you want to?” 

Chanyeol whispered a soft _yes_ and Baekhyun grinned as he cupped the omegas face to gently brush his tears away, “Sweet baby, you can’t see anything with all these tears,” He chided softly.

Chanyeol leaned over to place his head on Baekhyun’s shoulder and the alpha tsked as he used his sleeve to brush away his tears. “Do you want to go to bed, beautiful?” 

The omega nodded a bit, yet didn’t move at all from his lap. Baekhyun grinned and pressed a kiss to his cheek while petting beneath his eye with soft fingers, “Okay. We can sit a while longer.” 

“Are you tired?” 

It was two in the morning, of course he was tired, but Baekhyun just hummed and brushed a few kisses on his cheek. “I’ll be tired when you’re tired, baby.” 

***

“Oh no!” 

Baekhyun laughed at the commotion going on outside his bedroom door, pulling on his sweatpants and listening to his mate running around. 

The alpha took his lip between his teeth as he saw a shadow cast outside the door, he was tempted to see just how long Chanyeol was going to debate on knocking, but knew that sadly it would probably be a long wait.

“Baby, you can always come in,” He mused, tossing his towel into the laundry basket and running a hand through his damp hair.

The door squeaked as it was pushed open and Baekhyun laughed at the wide eyes peering in before Chanyeol shuffled in a bit more and it was _two_ sets of round eyes.

Baekhyun gasped for a second because he’d been _wondering_ when Byul would shift, but Chanyeol looked incredibly lost. “He turned into _this!”_

Baekhyun burst into laughter that Byul opened his toothless mouth to, little fingers stuffed into his mouth as he squealed a coo.

“Chanyeol, baby,” The alpha beamed as the omega came over to shove the naked baby at his bare chest, frantic and confused, “He’s so beautiful.” 

And he _was._ Byul was gorgeous with his wide and almond shaped eyes, little replicas of Chanyeol’s own, teeny toes curling and uncurling as he cooed and plopped his nose into Baekhyun’s collarbone. 

Chanyeol huffed and shuffled awkwardly, but his shoulders did raise at the praise, “I- he’s _naked_ and he’s making so much noise now, what do we do!”

Baekhyun actually giggled just because Chanyeol was adorable when confused, turning to plop Byul down on his back and pinching his little belly because the baby flailed his arms and legs excitedly. “Baby needs some clothes! Yes he does, tell daddy you need some clothes and a diaper! Byullie can’t be _nakey_ all the time!” 

“What… what… where are the diapers?” 

“You just watch him for a second, Yeol,” Baekhyun said soft with a grin, turning his head to nod for the omega to come over, “I’ll be back with some clothes and I’ll teach you how to put a diaper on him.” 

Chanyeol's shoulders sagged in relief, but he pouted as he took a seat beside Byul and flopped down to nuzzle the baby’s cheek, “I have a feeling I’ll like puppy Byul better.” 

Baekhyun choked on his cackle even though he knew Chanyeol was just being whiny - it was true babies were so much more work though.

Byul hadn’t been able to do much at all other than whimper and whine as a puppy, but now he had all these noises he could make and all these limbs that could go every which way.

As he was rushing out of the room he heard Chanyeol’s _ow that’s daddy’s ear_ and knew it took Byul less than two minutes to figure out how to yank.

Baekhyun couldn't wait.

He rushed out to the baby’s room to grab a pair of clothes and a diaper, vaguely placing a reminder into the back of his mind to pull out the box of _human_ baby toys from the closet.

They couldn’t give Byul many things when he was in puppy form after all, a human baby had thumbs and puppy’s sort of just whined for pets.

“- and you have to make sure to _not_ pee on me anymore, okay? Daddy doesn’t like that at all, Byul.” 

Baekhyun snorted as he walked back in, grinning at Chanyeol seated against the headboard with the baby being held up to pretend to stand. 

“Byul peed on daddy again?” Baekhyun laughed, climbing onto the bed beside Chanyeol and patting between them, “Byullie is a little monster.” 

“He keeps peeing on me after you give him baths,” Chanyeol whined.

Baekhyun laughed and pressed a kiss to his head before accepting the baby to place him back down on the bed.

He would _very_ much not prefer to be peed on all over his bed and a naked baby had many chances to do so, a diaper was needed pronto.

“Don’t worry, sunshine. Just watch this - you just put this part under his bottom, you can tell which way is which because the front of it has animals on it, and then you _swat little hands away-“_ Baekhyun growled playfully, making the baby giggle more and try to grab at his diaper more, “- then it’s easy, you fold these sticky parts over, fold then _press_ and make sure it’s closed all the way _,_ and I like to make sure the top has about a finger of room or two. It won’t matter much now since Byul doesn’t crawl yet, but when he starts crawling he needs space to move.” 

Chanyeol looked overwhelmed, rightfully so, but it didn’t stop him from giving Byul a finger to play with when the baby began to fuss. “Um… what.. what next?” 

Baekhyun smiled and gathered the onesie at his side, “Well, first you give this little _monster_ lots of kisses!” He cried playfully, leaning over to kiss Byul’s belly.

The baby began to laugh in little hiccups and kick his legs fast, almost smacking a little hand in Baekhyun’s face.

“Isn’t it fun! We have to keep the baby laughing or he’s going to _scream_ his head off!” Baekhyun baby talked, blowing a raspberry into the baby’s chubby cheek as he slid the onesie under him.

“I-I can do that.” 

The alpha grinned ear to ear and sat back to tuck the orange onesie around the baby, “Of course you can, you make Byul happy so _often,_ baby. Look at him - all giggles when he sees daddy.” 

Chanyeol blushed and laughed as he sat up to lean over the baby while Baekhyun got him dressed. “Byullie likes alpha _too.”_

“Is that so?” Baekhyun smirked to himself and busied putting little limbs through the clothes. “What a coincidence because alpha likes Byullie _and_ daddy too.” 

Chanyeol giggled bashfully and dropped his head down beside the baby to laugh into the blankets.

Baekhyun could see his ears were bright red and couldn’t help feeling incredibly accomplished, quickly zipping the onesie up and scooping Byul up under his arms before the baby could grab handfuls of Chanyeol’s hair. “And _finally!_ We have the star of the show! Byul! Say hello to daddy!” 

The baby squirmed and squealed as he kicked his legs around instead.

Baekhyun took it as a hello and assumed Chanyeol did too because he sat back with a deep breath, wide grin, and red face.

“Do you know what animal he is, baby?” Baekhyun cooed softly, setting the baby between his legs and reaching over to pet hair from Chanyeol's face.

Byul didn’t seem interested in their flirting at all, he just went wide eyed at his own toes and tested the capacity of his lungs with shrieks.

Chanyeol licked his lips as he looked at the orange outfit, _“Tiger, right?”_

Baekhyun beamed, “That’s right. Your memory is _so_ good, baby. In no time you're going to be reading and writing and _everything.”_

Okay _maybe_ he was being a bit dramatic, but he knew how much it meant to Chanyeol to at least hear he was doing okay.

He couldn’t exactly just _wish_ to instantly have all the skills everyone else had grown up having, but Baekhyun could certainly praise him for doing well _learning_ them.

“I… have been looking through the books your friends brought.” 

“There’s _nothing_ wrong with that,” Baekhyun said instantly, laying back in the bed and pulling the baby up and into his side to lay down by his stomach.

Byul started up with a fussy noise as he was detached from his own toes, but before waterworks began he quickly got more interested in nuzzling into Baekhyun’s shirt and making handfuls of it his own.

The alpha just snorted and pet his little cheek even though he was beginning to feel the wet baby drool through his clothing.

Chanyeol laid down a few moments later, looking much more sheepish and nervous as he brought the blanket over himself, “Is it okay?” 

“Why are you even asking, Chanyeol?” Baekhyun whispered softly, “You can sleep in here all the _time_ if you want that.” 

Heaven knew _Baekhyun_ wanted that.

The omega sucked his lip into his mouth and pulled the blanket up to his chin, but he wasn’t fooling Baekhyun that he was going to bed for one second, and the alpha could feel his wide eyes on him.

“Nap time, Byul,” Baekhyun mumbled as he pulled the baby up to the pillows in between them, “Don’t you want to sleep with daddy and alpha? Hm?” 

Byul lifted a flat palm and smacked it down on Baekhyun’s chest in response, but his babbling whine trailed off a bit when the alpha rubbed the center of his forehead with a soft finger.

Baekhyun always found it cute how babies could fuss up a storm, yet as soon as you found their sleepy spot it was nearly instant lights out. For Byul it was _always_ his little forehead or patting his bottom, the baby couldn’t get enough attention.

_“Baekhyun?”_

“Mhm.” 

“I was thinking…” 

Baekhyun’s eyes flickered over Byul’s droopy, sleepy ones to meet Chanyeol’s and instantly he frowned at the glossiness of them. 

The omega looked away then, reaching out of the blanket to touch Byul’s stomach, “I’m really… I-I feel really sorry he doesn’t smell like you.” 

_Ouch._

There was no denying that it hurt to bring it up. It would be a lie to even try and claim it _didn’t_ sting.

Baekhyun knew the sad truth was that many other alphas that were faced with this situation may _never_ accept the child.

Byul was another’s child, not his.

The alpha would ignore the baby, perhaps dote on their omega but the grabby hands in their direction and whines would be ignored.

That could _never_ be Baekhyun. Byul was a baby - he had zero idea what was happening, what _had_ happened. As far as Baekhyun was concerned Byul’s alpha would be whoever _raises him._

And that was _him._

Byul was his even if he wasn’t, he was always going to be his because he was Chanyeol’s, and that made him _everything_ Baekhyun loved. 

Baekhyun carefully shifted the baby off onto the pillow, fixing the bedding so he laid flat onto his back with his little fingers poking into his mouth, eyes fighting going to bed and losing.

Baekhyun shifted onto his knees just so he could shift closer to Chanyeol, meeting the omegas legs through the blanket and then draping over his front.

Chanyeol went wide eyed then, apology in them and also confusion as Baekhyun leaned down with warm breath on his face. 

Without a word, the alpha leaned down to press his lips against Chanyeol's. It was nothing heated and it was nothing more than a taste of a kiss when the omegas lips were pressed shut and his eyes were wide open. The only change was Chanyeol gasped a bit but otherwise laid still.

Baekhyun shifted onto his palms to lean back and smiled fondly at the look, running a palm over his hair. “You don’t need to be sorry, sweetheart.” 

“But I-“ 

Shushing softly Baekhyun pressed a kiss to his temple, “Okay? You don’t need to ever feel sorry.” 

A hand came out of the blanket and Baekhyun was a bit surprised when Chanyeol tucked his head into his neck and laid a hand on his naked spine. 

_“Okay, alpha.”_

***

“I mean… it’s not ideal.” 

“Yeah, but it is good for him.” 

Baekhyun hummed an agreement and pulled his turtleneck up higher as he reached for his coffee stuck sitting in the cup holder of the stroller.

“Think about it,” Minseok said to his right, “It's scary, I get it, but you can’t _not_ say Chanyeol needs help.” 

Baekhyun refused to comment on that, but he did turned his body towards his friend with pursed lips and a red nose, “Shut the fuck up.” 

Minseok rolled his eyes, “Baek. He said he wants to, and I told you I’m willing to drive him to and from.” 

“That’s _not_ the part that worries me.” 

“So you’re just being possessive because you’ll have to spend two days a week for five hours with him not there.” 

_“No!”_ Baekhyun hissed loudly before taking it down a notch and baring his teeth, “I’m worried he’s going to be _scared,_ Minseok. You don’t get it - nobody gets it - he nearly had a panic attack because of a neighbor setting off their fire alarm last night. He’s afraid of so much and if I can’t help him then who the fuck am I?”

“He seems fine today.” 

Baekhyun growled under his breath and twisted his head to breath angrily away from his friend.

He knew Minseok meant well, all of his friends did.

Baekhyun knew it and he processed it, and right now he couldn’t argue with Minseok because Chanyeol _was_ doing well today.

He was across the park watching Sehun play with Byul on a blanket. 

Baekhyun hated that they’d convinced them to come out and play because it was far too cold, but he’d been swayed when Chanyeol shyly fell for Minseok's suggestion of picking up muffins for them. 

Baekhyun should bite a chunk out of Minseok's arm for that in the first place, for tricking Chanyeol into agreeing because he saw the nerves in the omegas face when he realized that entailed going out.

“Who knows if Chanyeol will stick to them anyway.” Minseok said weakly, knowing Baekhyun was pissed, “It was just a suggestion, Baekhyun. You know, he can learn with the other omegas…. the clinic is very clean, I swear, and it’s only a few hours. I’ll have him back quickly.”

“If Chanyeol agreed then there’s nothing I am going to say to stop him,” Baekhyun sighed and scratched his arm, “It's great to hear that after so long they busted those omegas out, and it’s great to know they’re all healing well, but it’s just… I- I grew used to having him home, you know? It’s… it’s going to be weird to not have him looking at designs over my shoulder or.. not playing with Byul… it’s going to be really quiet.”

“How quiet can it be with a five month old?” 

Baekhyun threw his head back to laugh at that and shrug a bit because _that_ was true. “Oh god, Byul is learning noises - go ask him to say -“

_“Ask him to say appa.”_

Baekhyun couldn't help the wide grin that spread across his face as his omega strolled over, hands shoved in his hoodie and his beanie yanked over cold ears. 

His nose was lightly dusted pink and cheeks blotchy red from the cold but he still smiled cutely. “Can I have more coffee? It’s cold.” 

“I’m going to hassle the baby before it’s eye fucking central over here,” Minseok snickered at the two as he jumped from the bench to make a quick escape.

Baekhyun ignored him even if Chanyeol sent him a confused look, the alpha just patted the bench and grabbed his own coffee to give over, “We can stop for more on the way home, baby. Although you’re turning into a little coffee _thief!”_ He whined playfully.

“You always give it to me..” Chanyeol pouted and accepted it before leaning onto his shoulder, “You are mean to me too much.” 

Gasping in fake shock, Baekhyun huffed and grabbed his chin to press a quick, vanilla latte tasting kiss onto his mouth, “You liar.” 

Chanyeol giggled and brought his shoulders up to his ears in a shrug before leaning against his mouth for another kiss.

Never quite asking yet never quite _not_ asking.

That was fine, Baekhyun just smothered his lips and cheeks in a handful of kisses anyway.

Chanyeol seemed content with that at least, only shivering a bit when Baekhyun’s fingertips tickled the nape of his neck.

“Can I ask you something?” Baekhyun spoke up a moment later, watching the omega gulp down all of the coffee that was once his with a smile. “Are you going to be okay… at the group therapy sessions?” 

Chanyeol's brows shot up before he turned to look at him fully, chocolate eyes immediately looking nervous. “I mean… I- I was told they would be teaching us some stuff and… I want to see the others… and I just-“

“You don’t need to convince me,” Baekhyun hushed with a light laugh, reaching up to tuck Chanyeol's wayward curls under his beanie, “I… I wanted to make sure, but you can do whatever you want to do, baby.” 

“Are… why do you sound like you’re going to cry?” Chanyeol worried, grabbing Baekhyun’s wrist in his empty hand to still his somewhat anxious worrying, “Baekhyun, don’t cry please.” 

“I’m just..” Baekhyun licked his lips and swallowed, “Very proud. I’m really proud, that’s all.” 

It sounded ridiculous out loud - that he was about to cry over this - but considering he found Chanyeol in the woods _naked_ with a newborn and considering all recent events, he couldn’t even feel ridiculous.

Neither of them expected the police to actually go after the illegal breeding when it went under the radar for so long, but apparently Junmyeons husband was _not_ letting it slide.

It was amazing, and yet Chanyeol never visually seemed to have any sort of reaction learning about the raid on the facility, in fact he really just shrugged it off and went about shaking toys out for Byul. 

Unattached, certainly.

But was it good? Baekhyun didn’t know and he couldn’t bring himself to _care._ Chanyeol could feel however he liked about it - he could express whatever he wanted about it, and he sure as hell made it known how much his self esteem was shot because of what the facility raised him to be.

The real world was so hard for him now that Chanyeol’s frustration and anger towards the facility came out when he got pissed off trying to read children’s stories because he _felt_ like a child. Or when he had to yell down the hall for Baekhyun to tell him how to start the washing machine, he was so _angry._

But it only showed when he wanted it to, and Baekhyun was fine with letting Chanyeol feel however he wanted - he wasn’t going to try to convince him to not be mad or to even be _madder._

“Hey… um, Baek?” 

The alpha sniffled and nodded as he looked down at his hand the omega was messing with, “Yes, baby?” 

Chanyeol had something mischievous in his eye when he looked at him, “What are those yellow things?” 

Baekhyun lifted his head to look around the park, brows furrowing as he spotted the yellow swing sets. 

He laughed then because he _knew_ what Chanyeol was doing.

The omega knew what swings were, they watched so many programs that Chanyeol was rather good at remembering what items were.

But he knew what Chanyeol was doing - trying to make him feel useful - letting the alpha teach him, because Baekhyun always smiled really wide when he explained things to him. 

Baekhyun laughed and jumped up from his spot to tug on his mates hand, “You want to play on the swings?”

Chanyeol's face turned red instantly, shaking his head and stumbling, “Baek, no - I… those are for kids, I was just-“

“Hey! Nobody said that they were for kids only! I want to push you on the swings, Yeol! We have to let you try at least _once_ in your life!”

They would look ridiculous - two grown adults playing at the park in mid winter - but who the hell _cared,_ Chanyeol had never been on a swing before, and Baekhyun wanted to make sure he got to do even the most childish of things in his lifetime.

Plus, Baekhyun didn’t mind odd stares, all the more reason to act childish and stick his tongue out at people.

(That was a habit he certainly wouldn’t teach Byul.)

***

“Appa is _hurrying!”_ Baekhyun cried as he rushed back into the living room.

Byul wasn’t crying or anything, in fact the baby was giggling and laying under a baby gym and swatting at little sea creatures.

But Baekhyun liked to feel _included!_ Even if the baby had little to no care what he was doing.

“Appa is _back!”_ He announced loudly, dropping down to the carpet and into the mess of baby toys. “And he brought your bottle, so let’s fill up this belly and then have some applesauce later, what do you think, Byullie?” 

Only then did the baby want to spare him a glance, eyes latching onto the bottle as Baekhyun removed the baby gym from over him. 

_“Ah-ah- ah!”_ Byul babbled, putting arms up at him.

“That’s _right,_ appa appa appa- huh, pumpkin?” Baekhyun grinned and scooped him up to lay with him in the crook of his arm.

Everyone else was _adamant_ Byul was doing nothing more than baby babbling noises as they tended to do, but Baekhyun was 100% sure he was cooing for him everytime, because he similarly cooed _da-da-da-da_ when Chanyeol was around.

Coincidence? Baekhyun thought not even though Byul’s list of babbles was expanding past those two cooes.

Still, he was sure it was for appa and daddy because he was appa and what he says goes.

(Perhaps he threatened Jongin with those exact words when the man said babies couldn’t talk that young.)

“Oh? Are you a big boy now?” Baekhyun laughed as Byul snatched the bottle from him to hold himself between little hands.

He propped the bottom up more seeing as the baby didn’t have the strength to _completely_ hold it up himself, “You're so mean to appa these days, I should tell daddy on you!” Baekhyun huffed and nuzzled into Byul’s hair, but the baby was much more interested in breathing heavily and trying to both hold his bottle and watch the colorful animals on the television. 

“Your daddy was right to call you the Grinch the other day,” Baekhyun whined and shifted to bring the baby seat closer, “That’s _okay,_ I still love my little puppy.” 

_But you’re still a little gremlin,_ he internally pouted as he placed the baby into his seat to sit up, scooting into his view and all Byul did was scrunch his entire face up in a threat to cry.

Baekhyun whined and brought a couch pillow down to place under his bottle to hold it up high enough. “Appa isn't moving! Byullie has to give me love first.” He claimed.

Of course that lasted two seconds because as soon as Byul moved the bottle and kicked out his foot Baekhyun grumbled and moved before the threat became reality and he had the baby fussing at the top of his lungs.

“You’re lucky you’re so cute, little man. I’m going to snuggle you for kisses later and you have _no_ say.” The alpha sulked and jumped up from the carpet.

Byul _was_ really beautiful though. His head of brown curls was growing so fast and at six months old they should have to consider getting his haircut yet but he had been pulling at it when it got in his eyes recently.

God, he was just so _Chanyeol_ though. He clung in his sleep like the omega did, he hated to eat anything green just like his daddy, he had the same _huge_ wide grin as Chanyeol. 

Everytime Baekhyun looked at him, he just screamed Chanyeol. 

Baekhyun walked over to the dining table to grab his phone because he just _needed_ a picture to send to his friends as proof Byul was secretly a little gremlin.

Nobody believed him because Byul liked to be sweet and give kisses when he wanted and it just so happened he _always_ wanted to when uncles came by.

What a little faker.

But the other half the time he was kneeing Baekhyun in the chest and peeing on Chanyeol in the bathtub with high pitched giggles.

_“Baekhyun! I’m back… alpha?”_

Baekhyun beamed as he turned to the front door, giving up his journey for his phone to instead spin around and rush the omega for a hug. 

Chanyeol laughed at his need to coddle so quickly, accepting a few kisses between laughs and nuzzling his nose against the alphas. “I brought food.” 

“I see that, baby.” Baekhyun cooed, gently prying the paper bag from Chanyeol only to place it on the ground and grab his face for a loud kiss.

“I- got- some-“ Chanyeol stumbled with kisses cutting him off, _“Baek!”_ He pouted but it was more a laugh as he pulled the alpha back a little, “I got rice and we can see if Byul likes it.” 

“That’s a good idea, now kisses.” 

Chanyeol choked on a bunch of laughter as the alpha pressed kisses onto his face, at this point when Baekhyun kissed his mouth it was mostly just muffling the noise. 

_“Can I talk!”_ He shrieked with laughter, pressing a hand into Baekhyun’s chest and playfully pushing him back, “Alpha! You’re crazy today!” 

“I’m crazy in love with you, now _kisses.”_ Baekhyun demanded again, ducking under his arm with his own playful laughter to hug Chanyeol’s waist although he _did_ calm down to let the omega breathe.

Instead he just curled his hands beneath Chanyeol's sweater and patiently pet his spine waiting for him to get his breath back. 

“What’d you learn today, beautiful?” 

“Not much - did you know I’m a large omega?” 

Baekhyun scrunched his nose up with a snicker and looked up at him confused, “What?”

Chanyeol chewed his lip and tittered, “This lady at therapy said I was a big omega, like.. I’m big for an omega.” 

“What’d you say?” Baekhyun demanded with his brows pulling together angrily. It wasn’t exactly an insult, but he knew damn well it wasn’t a compliment either - even if he knew Chanyeol wouldn’t know if it was rude either way.

“I said…” Chanyeol blushed and looked through his hair sheepishly, “That my mate likes it.” 

Baekhyun’s chest swelled and he just barely was able to restrain himself as he smirked and pressed his hips against the omegas, “That’s _right,”_ He purred, hand under Chanyeol's shirt curling around his waist, “And alpha will tell you _just_ how much he likes it, maybe later tonight? If you’re ready?” 

Chanyeol chewed on his lip with bright red ears as he gave a slight nod, “I… think I want to… try to-“

_“Dadadadada! Dadadada! Dadadadada!”_

Baekhyun pouted and surged up to press a kiss to Chanyeol’s nose, “Byul wants to tell us how much he loves daddy too. But now alpha is growing _impatient!”_ He growled and nipped at Chanyeol's cheek while curling a hand around the omegas jeans waistband.

Chanyeol choked a noise and gulped, “I’ll put Byul to bed and be really fast, alpha.”   
  


**  
EXTRA: **

“Daddy! Daddy!” 

Chanyeol groaned and shifted onto his side, rolling over towards the side of the bed to open his eyes tiredly and force them to focus on the excited three year old. “Good morning, Byullie.” 

The toddler squealed and grabbed the blanket to pull himself up the side of the bed, a piece of paper all scrunched up in his hand.

Seems he wouldn’t be going back to sleep anytime soon, but that was as expected given he had a hard time sleeping when Baekhyun wasn’t there to be his teddy bear.

He sighed and shifted to sit up, “What do you have there, puppy?” 

Byul smiled impishly and scooted over to flop down onto his chest, taking over both Chanyeol’s lap and the blankets as he yanked them over his spaceship pajamas and patted his crinkled paper. “I drawed daddy a picture!” 

“You drew daddy a picture?” Chanyeol corrected groggily, petting his long hair back and kissing his cheek, “Now what did you draw me, baby star?” 

Byul giggled with excitement as he lifted the paper up. Of course it was nothing more than a bunch of scribbles and what vaguely looked like people, but it would still find a place somewhere in Baekhyun’s work stuff even if the alpha claimed he didn’t hoard all of Byul’s drawings to himself.

(When Chanyeol had literally caught him red handed with a drawer of them in his office.)

“Look! I drawed _me,_ then daddy! And then appa! See? I liked appa with _this_ hair!” Byul cooed, shoving his little finger in the way.

Chanyeol had to move the little hand out of the way to see, and snorted at the mess of black scribbles on Baekhyun’s head. “Yeah? Well daddy prefers appa with a haircut, and appa prefers it too - little Byul still needs to keep his promise and get a haircut.” 

The only reason Baekhyun had let his hair _get_ that long and messy was because Byul was refusing to get his own hair cut, so they’d come up with a deal with the toddler, but Chanyeol couldn't stand having long hair like he once did.

It made him itch with discomfort, so Baekhyun - always the sweetest - volunteered.

Byul burst into tears watching his appa cut off his long hair, so he hadn’t gotten his cut that time, but the next time they would take the little omega in he’d promised to stay still for the workers.

“Oh! I almost forgetted!” Byul squealed.

 _“You almost forgot.”_ The omega corrected with a laugh.

“Look! I added Hye Hye too!” 

Chanyeol frowned and shifted the toddler onto his thigh, “Who?” 

Byul pouted and poked a finger at Chanyeol's cheek, “Hye Hye! Appa says that daddy has a baby in his belly! Hye Hye must be real small to fit in there, huh, daddy?”

Chanyeol _blanched,_ huffing and leaning over to squeeze the toddler tightly which only made Byul whine and squirm.

They’d _agreed_ to wait to tell anyone until he was showing, but of course Baekhyun, his impatience, excitement, and the fact that he was putty for Byul couldn't wait that long.

He sat back with a groan, “Okay, first of all you can’t name your sibling randomly.” 

_“Why not!”_ Byul whined.

“And secondly, I need you to run off and play,” Chanyeol instructed, placing the toddler on the floor and rolling out of bed, “Daddy needs to go yell at appa.” 

“Oh!” Byul trailed him with wide eyes and his picture clutched in his fist, _“Can I come? Daddy I want to help yell at appa for daddy too! Are we yelling at appa for kisses? I like to do that!”_

**Author's Note:**

> Twitter: Gigi_B56 - Come see sneak peeks of stories!
> 
> https://curiouscat.qa/Gigi_B56 - Ask me questions!


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